Chapter 134: The Optus System
The Dawnlight was advancing through the Warp, its tides surprisingly calm. If anyone had been foolish enough to look outside, they might have seen a void that was insulating them from the insane visions.
"..."
The Navigator felt useless.
Warp travel was not supposed to be like this. Inside the ship, you had to constantly monitor the instruments, your colleagues, and even every single steel plate to prevent it from suddenly growing flesh and taking a bite out of you. Outside the ship, you had to not only gaze upon the bizarre, kaleidoscopic worlds and resist their malevolent stares, but also communicate with the captain in a timely manner to avoid dangers like aether-reefs and space hulks.
But now...
The fleet, led by the Dawnlight, was nimbly weaving through the Warp's tides, like a school of fish swimming through a coral reef, dodging aether-reefs and strange, native Warp-species. The Machine Spirit was singing a joyous canticle, and the Gellar Fields of the entire fleet were operating stably.
She had been a Navigator her entire life, and except for this crusade, she had never experienced such a relaxing journey. The Navigator even felt a bit bored, because there was really nothing that required her to be on high alert. She just had to stare ahead like the pilot of an orbital transport and make her reports on time.
And all of this... the Navigator couldn't help but think of the four new masters of the ship.
She had never really believed in the Imperial Cult. The Navigator Houses knew better than most Imperial citizens what the Emperor truly was. But now, she felt she should probably believe a little, just to bask in the light of these ancient warriors.
"Ramesses, how much longer until we reach our destination?" Romulus asked, his eyes fixed on the combat reports from various factions, constantly calculating various scenarios. This campaign had been tacitly taken over by the Astartes of the Imperial Fists' lineage. After all, their opponents were the Iron Warriors.
"About two hours—let me just do a quick divination," Ramesses said offhandedly, then, feeling the death-glare from behind him, casually pointed at a daemon. "1 hour and 21 minutes."
"Okay, what's next?"
But Ramesses's divination was not yet over. His thoughts were still wandering in the Empyrean, beginning to capture information about the planet. The four of them could not be seen by the Warp, so any direct prophecy about them was inaccurate, but it was still possible to prophesy some information.
In the vision revealed by the prophecy, the moment the ship emerged, it would be exposed to the firepower of a Craftworld Eldar fleet. The Dawnlight would be targeted first as an enemy.
Ramesses then reported the results of his divination.
"Craftworld Eldar?" Romulus looked surprised. "Weren't they Drukhari slavers attacking the Optus system?"
"Probably mercenaries... hiss, why is the composition of this planet so complicated?" Ramesses seemed to have seen something strange.
"Such as?"
"Black and white sprouts, Chaos traitors, lions tearing each other apart, and a fancy mask," Ramesses reported two specific, two vague. "We'll have to see the specifics when we get out. Prophecy is not omnipotent. Otherwise, Kairos would still be sticking to us."
"Good. Inform all fleets to prepare for battle." Romulus waved his hand and began to have the astropaths make their psychic calls.
The transmigrators were the old hands who had adapted to the current situation the fastest.
Compared to the look of a shattered worldview on the faces of Drakus and the others when they had seen the Black Templars use the Emperor's Tarot for divination and actually get it right, the four transmigrators' acceptance of this kind of metaphysics, which was so out of place in a space-faring technological age, was surprisingly high.
All sorts of ritualized operations were second nature to them. They spent their days studying the various versions of the Imperial Creed, striving to one day be able to debate a certain Primarch into submission. They would also occasionally go and pay their respects to the Machine Spirits. But those Machine Spirits seemed to be very afraid of them. Praying to them actually made them more agitated, but their work enthusiasm was also surprisingly high, so everyone would go and pray a little more when they had the time.
Anyway, if it's useful, use it.
Sigh. This is what it's like to be unaffected by the Warp. You just have to enjoy the benefits. Everything is so beautiful.
"Romulus, we have arrived."
"Good." Romulus, on his command throne, responded quickly. "Fleet, prepare. Activate the Warp engines, tear the veil, prepare to emerge. All weapon teams, take note. Load ammunition and prepare to respond to an attack at any time."
As the Warp engines released a massive amount of energy, the veil between reality and illusion was torn apart. The tides of the Warp quickly pushed the starship into the Optus system.
As expected, the Chaos ships of the Eldar and the Iron Warriors were engaged in a chaotic battle at the edge of the system. Currently, the Eldar ships were at a disadvantage. These ships, equipped with solar sails and capable of manipulating gravity to be exceptionally agile, were swift, but they were outnumbered and had been pushed to a corner of the system by the Iron Warriors' battle group.
In addition, there was a small, independent fleet that was fending off a Drukhari attack.
"Prioritize annihilating the xenos," Romulus commanded, quickly assessing the situation. "Maintain a distance from the traitor fleet. We will outflank them." The crusade fleet was still in the process of transitioning. Because their numbers were so large, this process would last for more than ten minutes.
"Fire."
The Gunnery Magos calculated the data. The command was transmitted through the cogitator arrays to the various facilities. The macro-cannons began to fire one by one.
Before the results of the bombardment could be confirmed, the machinery, with the roar of its Machine Spirit, began to work diligently. The Mechanicus ships did not have the various clans who had been operating artillery since birth. The transport belts brought the rounds from the ammunition depots, and in thirty seconds, the auto-loading facilities pushed the giant shells, dozens of meters in diameter, into the still-hot electromagnetic acceleration chambers.
But aside from the lances achieving a few sporadic hits, not a single macro-cannon shell had struck its target.
"They have a very powerful Farseer," Ramesses said, as if he had expected it.
The Eldar were like that. Prophecy was etched into their very bones. When faced with any difficulty, they would just calculate the result. Psychic power had permeated every aspect of their lives. And it was for this very reason that their certainty in their prophecies had reached a level of superstition. Because their calculations were usually accurate, there was no reason that their calculations of their own destruction would be inaccurate.
"Can you counter it?" Romulus asked, while quickly ordering the warships to use their macro-batteries to attack the Iron Warriors.
"You'd have to get an Old One to teach me," Ramesses shrugged. He was completely self-taught. All his skills were the result of his own diligent hard work and sweat.
"Enemy boarding action," the Navigator's voice came through the command system. These beings were not just capable of fulfilling their navigational duties. In the application of psychic power, they also far surpassed ordinary psykers. A Navigator Farseer was no less capable than an Eldar Farseer.
"Thank you for the warning."
Ramesses's gaze quickly shot out into the void.
It was a squad of Eldar Aspect Warriors. A Farseer was guiding them in a psychic teleportation. From their armor alone, Ramesses could confirm that this was a squad of Howling Banshees, an Aspect Shrine that specialized in assault operations. And their target was, naturally, the Dawnlight, this starship that had suddenly burst onto the battlefield and was now being tightly protected in the core of the fleet by its comrades.
"The Eldar's prophecies are really accurate," Ramesses remarked.
With a flash of psychic light on the other side of the void, the Howling Banshees completed their teleportation.
Their heads were neatly arranged on the empty space of the bridge's deck. Their bodies were fused into the thick deck plating. From beneath their shuriken-masks, which could bring endless fear to their enemies, only the stench of death emanated.
This scene made the Invictarus Suzerains who were guarding Romulus feel a slight discomfort. After the Battle of Calth, when they had been recovering the remains of their battle-brothers, many of the bodies had been in a similar state. Because the Warp-tides had interfered with their teleportation beacons, many of the warriors who had teleported for a boarding action had died directly inside the walls of the warships.
"Unprofessional teleportation," Ramesses said with a smile, having slightly interfered with the enemy's teleportation destination. He then said to Romulus, "Lend me Arthur for a bit."
(End of Chapter)